Acanthurus leucocheilus

Acanthurus leucocheilus, the palelipped surgeonfish or the white-spine surgeonfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes or tangs. This fish is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Acanthurus leucocheilus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Acanthuridae
Genus: Acanthurus
Species:
A. leucocheilus
Binomial name
Acanthurus leucocheilus
Herre, 1927

Taxonomy

Acanthurus leucocheilus was first formally described in 1927 by the American ichthyologist Albert William Herre with its type localities given as Bantayan, Cebu and Agutaya in the Philippines.[2] The genus Acanthurus is one of two genera in the tribe Acanthurini which is one of three tribes in the subfamily Acanthurinae which is one of two subfamilies in the family Acanthuridae.[3]

Etymology

Acanthurus leucocheilus has the specific name leucocheilus, this combines the Greek words leukos, meaning "white", and cheilos, meaning "lip", this refers to the red lips surrounded by a band of bright white colour with a black band posterior to it.[4]

Description

Acanthurus leucocheilus has its dorsal fin supported by 9 spines and 24 or 25 soft rays while the anal finis supported by 3 spines and 23 soft rays.[5] The overall colour of this fish is brown or blackish with light coloured lips and a white band across the throat. The spine on the caudal peduncle is white which also has a white bar around it. The pectoral fin has a white bar in its distal part. When feeding the fish may be paler than at other times. Juveniles are brown and have a yellow tail.[6] This species has a maximum published standard length of 45 cm (18 in).[5]

Distribution and habitat

Acanthurus leucocheilus is found in the Indo-Pacific. It occurs on the coast eastern Africa between Djibouti and northern Mozambique, the Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands east to Tuvalu and the Line Islands, including Christmas Island in Australia.[1] This species grazes on sand and detritus in small groups of up to 30 individuals at depths between 5 and 30 m (16 and 98 ft), at least, on outer reefs.[6]

References
  1. Abesamis, R.; Clements, K.D.; McIlwain, J.; et al. (2012). "Acanthurus leucocheilus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012: e.T177994A1515329. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T177994A1515329.en. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Acanthurus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. pp. 497–502. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
  4. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 January 2021). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 2): Families EPHIPPIDAE, LEIOGNATHIDAE, SCATOPHAGIDAE, ANTIGONIIDAE, SIGANIDAE, CAPROIDAE, LUVARIDAE, ZANCLIDAE and ACANTHURIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  5. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2023). "Acanthurus leucocheilus" in FishBase. June 2023 version.
  6. Dianne J. Bray. "Acanthurus leucocheilus". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
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